Electronic money system of token and value mixed type

ABSTRACT

An electronic money system of a token and value mixed type including an electronic money card of a type in which a token type for preferentially paying the coin money and paying the bill money when a coin money balance is insufficient for payment and recording issuance numbers of bills paid/received in transaction history in a memory area of the electronic money card and an automatic transaction machine (ATM) for reading from an electronic money card issuance numbers of bills for deposit and an issuance number of an invalid bill and transmitting the numbers to a computer of a bank.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic money card and anapparatus handling an electronic money card, and in particular, to anelectronic money card of an electronic money type in which a token typeand a value type are mixed and to an electronic money system handlingthe electronic money card, and to an apparatus for use with theelectronic money card in the electronic money system.

[0002] Attentions have been recently attracted to an electronic commerce(EC). In such commercial systems, an electronic money system using an ICcard is to about to be put to practice in which electronic money can beused in a store existing on a network such as the Internet and an actualstore. Electronic money systems using IC cards are classified intosystems of “closed loop type” and “open loop type” on one hand and intothose of “token type” and “value type” on the other hand.

[0003] One of the problems associated with practical uses of suchelectronic money systems of the IC card type is prevention of moneylaundering for money illegally gained. (“Money laundering” is conductedso that any traces of the dubious money are erased and the money isbeyond the reach of the police.) In the electronic money system of theclosed loop type, when a transactions is achieved by a store and afinancial institution or facility such as a bank with an electronicmoney card, personal transaction history recorded in the electronicmoney card is transferred to a computer of the bank. Since personalinformation is accumulated in the bank, there exists a fear of invasionof privacy. Moreover, a large volume of transaction history istransmitted via terminal devices and automatic transaction machines ofstores and a network to the computer of the bank to be accumulated astransaction history in a recording apparatus of the computer.Consequently, there arises a problem of increase in cost forcommunication, processing, and accumulation of information. In theelectronic money system of the open loop type, the personal history isnot acquired by the computer of the bank when a transaction is achievedby an electronic money card. Therefore, the invasion of privacy isprevented and the problems related to the communication, processing, andaccumulation cost can be avoided. However, there also remains theproblem how to trace the electronic money transported for the moneylaundering.

[0004] On the other hand, in the electronic money system of the valuetype, the balance of electronic money in the electronic money card ismanaged only in accordance with the value (amount). Namely, this systemis quite simple and can be easily put to practice. However, since onlythe amount of payment or receipt is recorded in the transaction historyof the electronic money card, the tracing of electronic moneytransported causes difficulties.

[0005] In the electronic money system of the token type, the electronicmoney balance is managed by the issuance number of each electronic bill.That is, the transaction history includes the bill issuance numbers andhence the transported electronic money can be easily traced. However,since the minimum unit of money is one yen for the bill issuance number,the cost of accumulating the transaction history in the electronic moneycard is increased and the processing time is accordingly elongated.Consequently, this system is unsuitable for practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anelectronic money system in which the privacy of each customer can beensured and the transported electronic money can be easily tracedwithout increasing the cost of communication, accumulation, andprocessing of information and data with respect to an electronic moneycard and a computer of a financial facility and the like.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide anelectronic money card which can be satisfactorily used for transactionsof a small amount of money with a little increase in the cost and whichensures the privacy and helps tracing the transported electronic moneyfor the prevention of money laundering.

[0008] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided anelectronic money card of a token and value mixed type. In the electronicmoney card, there are stored issuance numbers of a relatively largedenomination bills and the balance of coins as a value amount. When thecoin balance is equal to or more than the transaction amount, the coinsare preferentially used for the payment. When the coin balance isinsuficient, bills are used therefor. For a remaining amount oftransaction for which the coin balance and the bills are notappropriately used for the payment, a bill is changed into a valueamount of coins and used for the payment. Additionally, in accordancewith the present invention, there is provided an electronic moneytransporting apparatus or transporter to handle the electronic moneycard of the token and value mixed type. From an electronic money card ofa payer, the transporter receives an issuance number of a bill and/or avalue amount of coins and then passes the number and the value amount toan electronic card of a recipient. The card of the recipient stores thereceived number in an internal storage thereof and adds the value amountof coins to the coin balance.

[0009] Furthermore, when a bill is changed into a value amount of coinsin an electronic card, the issuance number of the bill thus changed isrecorded as an invalid bill in the electronic card. In this case, theinvalid bill is also used as a clue or lead to trace the transportedelectronic money. In a transaction achieved by an electronic money cardwith a financial facility, an automatic transaction machine (ATM)receives a card identifier (ID) and an issuance number of the invalidbill from the electronic money card during a depositing or withdrawingoperation and then transmits the card ID and the issuance number to acomputer of the financial facility. Particularly, in the moneydepositing operation, the ATM receives an issuance number of a billdeposited from the electronic money card and transmits the number to thecomputer. On receiving the issuance number of the deposited bill and theissuance number of the invalid bill and then stores the card ID and thereceived issuance numbers in a storage with a correspondence establishedtherebetween.

[0010] As described above, in accordance with the present invention, theelectronic money card is a token and value mixed type in which a billhaving an issuance number and coins having only a value amount areappropriately utilized depending on cases. Therefore, there is providedan electronic money card in which the transferred electronic money canbe easily traced and a transaction of a small amount of money can beefficiently carried out without increasing the cost. Additionally, whenconducting a transaction by an electronic money card with a financialfacility, the issuance number of the invalid bill registered to the cardand the issuance number of the deposited bill are accumulated in acomputer of the financial facility. However, since the transactionhistory recorded in the card is not passed to the side of the financialfacility in the open loop system, there can be implemented an electronicmoney system in which the transferred electronic money can be easilytraced without any invasion of privacy. Furthermore, it is possible tominimize the cost of communication, processing, and accumulation toregister the invalid bill and the deposited bill to the financialfacility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The objects and features of the present invention will becomemore apparent from the consideration of the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

[0012]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of electronic money and data inan embodiment of an electronic money system in accordance with thepresent invention;

[0013]FIG. 2A is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an electronicmoney card 1 of a payer and a money transporter 2 in the embodiment;

[0014]FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the electronicmoney card 1 of the payer (after the flow of FIG. 2A) in the embodiment;

[0015]FIG. 2C is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an electronicmoney card 3 of a recipient and the money transporter 2 (after the flowof FIG. 2A) in the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow ofprocessing in which an issuance number of a bill is transmitted to beaccumulated in an electronic card/a computer 5 of a bank in theembodiment; and

[0016]FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow to trace a flow ofmoney transported for money laundering.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Referring now to the accompanying drawings, description will begiven of an embodiment of an electronic money system in accordance withthe present invention.

[0018]FIG. 1 shows in a schematic diagram a data layout of an electronicmoney card and a flow of electronic money and data. Numeral 1 indicatesan electronic money card of a payer. The card 1 includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU), an input/output interface unit, and a memory as adata area. Stored in the data area are a card ID, an electronic moneybalance, a coin balance, bills, transaction history, and an invalidbill. The electronic money balance is obtained as a total of the coinbalance and a balance of bills. For the bills, there are stored issuancenumbers of all bills of the payer. Assume that the bills have only oneface or denomination value, e.g., 10,000 yen. The transaction historyincludes transaction history of receipt and payment of money. In thehistory, a receipt/payment code represents a receipt/paymenttransaction. A transaction card ID indicates a card ID of an electronicmoney card of a partner of the transaction. A coin/bill codediscriminates a receipt/payment transaction achieved by use of coins orbills. As to a value/issuance number, when the coin/bill code indicates“coin”, the transaction amount is recorded in terms of a value amount,and when the coin/bill code indicates “bill”, the transaction amount isrecorded in terms of a bill issuance number. In a transaction hystory,records corresponding to hystories are present by considering theinformation above as one record. Stored in the invalid bill field are abill issuance number of each bill which have been changed into coins andthereby becomes invalid at this point of time.

[0019] Numeral 3 represents an electronic money card of a recipient. Thecard 3 is substantially equal to the card 1 of the payer in the hardwareand software constitution, but only different in situation in thetransaction. Numeral 2 denotes a money transporting apparatus ortransporter such as a point-of-sale terminal device or unit, anelectronic purse, or a server on a network. The transporter 2 includes aCPU, a memory, and an input/output interface. The transporter 2communicates with the card 1 of the payer via the input/outputinterfaces thereof to receives information therefrom and stores theinformation in its memory. Thereafter, the CPU of transporter 2 sendsinformation from the memory to the card 3 of the recipient via theinput/output interfaces thereof. Numeral 11 indicates a flow ofelectronic money from the card 1 of the payer to the card 3 of therecipient. Numeral 12 designates a flow of information which indicatesthe card ID of a partner of the transaction, recipient/payment code, andthat transaction amount are communicated between the transporter 2 andthe electronic money card 1 of a payer and the electronic money card 3of a recipient, respectively.

[0020] Numeral 5 indicates a computer (or a file thereof) of a financialfacility such as a bank. The card has a data layout equal to that of thecard 1 of the payer from the card ID up to the transaction history. Inan invalid bill field, there are recorded the IDs respectively of thecards 1 and 3 and the issuance numbers of invalid bills. Numeral 4indicates an automatic transaction apparatus (ATM) installed in afinancial facility. In this concept of ATM, there is included a bankingterminal unit on the Internet. The ATM includes a device to receive, asan input thereto, information from the cards 1 and 3. Numeral 14indicates a flow of electronic money to indicate how the electronicmoney is transported between the cards 1 and 3 and the computer 5 of thefinancial facility. Numeral 13 denotes a flow of information to indicatehow the card ID of a partner of the transaction, the bills deposited,and an invalid bill are transmitted from the cards 1 and 3 to thecomputer 5. When the financial facility adopts an outsourcing system inwhich the banking operations are to be carried out by a computer centerof another firm, the computer 5 indicates a computer of the firm.

[0021]FIGS. 2A to 2C show in flowcharts a flow of processing in the card1 of payer, the money transporter 2, and the card 3 of recipient. Thetransporter 2 transmits the obtained items including the card ID of thecard 3, the receipt/payment code=payment code, and the transactionamount to the card 1 (step 21). The card 1 receives these information(step 22) and then refers to the electronic money balance and the coinbalance in the data area (step 23). If the electronic money balance isless than the transaction amount (no in step 24), the card 1 notifiesthe condition of impossibility of payment to the transporter 2 (step25). The transporter 2 responsively displays the impossibility ofpayment on its display device (step 26) and terminates the processing.If the electronic money balance is equal to or more than the transactionamount (yes in step 24), the card 1 checks to determine whether or notthe coin balance is equal to or more than the transaction amount (step27).

[0022] If the coin balance is equal to or more than the transactionamount (yes in step 27), the transaction amount is set to thetransaction balance (step 28). An amount obtained by subtracting thetransaction balance from the coin balance is set as the (new) coinbalance, which is recorded in the data area to thereby update the dataarea (step 29). The card 1 notifies a notification of payment of thecoin money to the transporter 2 (step 30). The transporter 2 receivesthe coin money (step 31), and then proceeds to processing of step 51(FIG. 2C). Next, the card 1 subtracts the transaction amount from theelectronic money balance to produce the (new) electronic money balanceand then records the obtained balance in the data area to thereby updatethe data area (step 32). The card 1 writes one record of transactionhistory in the memory (step 33). In the transaction history record, thereceipt/payment code records the “payment code”, the transaction code IDrecords the “card ID from the transporter 2”, the coin/bill code recordsthe “coin code”, and the value amount/issuance number records the“transaction amount”, respectively. The steps 32 and 33 may be reversed.

[0023] If the coin balance is less than the transaction amount (no instep 27), the transaction amount is divided by the face value of thebill. The quotient is set as the number of bills for the payment and theremainder is assumed as the transaction balance (step 34). When thenumber of bills is other than zero, the issuance numbers of thepertinent bills are acquired for the payment from the data area (step35) to be notified to the transporter 2. Thereafter, the numbers of thebills paid are deleted from the data area (step 36). The transporter 2then receives the bills (issuance numbers; step 37) and then recordstransaction history for each issuance number of bills, i.e., the recordsequal to the number of bills paid. The coin/bill code records the “billcode” and the value/issuance number records the issuance number of eachbill paid (step 38). If the number of bills is zero, steps 35 to 38 areskipped. A check is then made to determine whether or not the coinbalance is equal to or more than the transaction balance (step 39). Ifthe coin balance is equal to or more than the transaction balance (yesin step 39), process goes to step 29. However, when the transactionbalance is zero, steps 30, 31, and 33 are skipped. If the coin balanceis less than the transaction balance (no in step 39), process goes toprocessing of step 41 (FIG. 2B) to change the bill into coins. When thenumber of bills is zero, the result of step 39 usually becomes “no”,since the result of determination of step 39 is the same as that of step27.

[0024] In FIG. 2B, the card 1 of payer adds the bill amount to the coinbalance to create the (new) coin balance. The obtained balance iswritten in the data area for the update thereof (step 41) and then onebill (issuance number) is obtained from the data area (step 42).Subsequently, the bill (issuance number) is additionally registored inthe invalid bill field of the data area (step 43). The issuance numberof the bill taken out is deleted from the data area (step 44) and thenprocess goes to step 29. Although step 42 is to be executed before steps43 and 44, the position thereof in the program may be changed only ifthis condition is satisfied.

[0025] In FIG. 2C, the transporter 2 checks to determine whether or notthe transaction amount is equal to the total amount of the coins andbills received from card 1 of payer (step 51). If these amounts matcheach other, the transporter 2 sends the card ID of the card 1, thereceipt/payment code (=receipt code), and the transaction amount to thecard 3 of recipient (step 52). On receiving these items (step 53), thecard 3 refers to the electronic money balance and the coin balance inthe data area (step 54). In the payment of electronic money, when thebills (issuance numbers of the bills for payment) and/or coins (thevalue amount) are sent from the transporter 2 (step 55), the card 3receives the electronic money (step 56). If there exists coins, the card3 adds the value amount received to the coin balance to generate the(new) coin balance. The new coin balance is written in the data area tothereby update the data area (step 57) and then one record oftransaction history is written in the area (step 58). In the transactionhistory, the receipt/payment code is set to “receipt code”, thetransaction ID is “card ID received from the transporter 2”, thecoin/bill code is set to “coin code”, and the value amount/issuancenumber field includes the received value amount. Next, if there exits abill, the issuance numbers of the bills received are registered to thedata area (step 59). For each issuance number of bill, one record iswritten as transaction history in the area (step 60). Finally, thetransaction amount is added to the electronic money balance to createthe (new) electric money balance. The resultant balance is written inthe data area for the update thereof (step 61) and then the processingis terminated. Steps 57 to 60 may be executed in any sequence.

[0026] As described above, the electronic money card 1 of the payerautomatically selects a combination of “coins” and “bills” in accordancewith the amount of payment to executes a procedure for payment. However,it is unnecessary for the user to pay attention to the combination of“coins” and “bills” selected for the payment.

[0027]FIG. 3 shows in a flowchart a flow of processing of theregistration of an invalid bill and bills in a depositing operation whenbills are transported between the electronic money cards 1 and 3 and thecomputer 5 of a bank via the ATM 4 of the bank. When the card 1, 3 isinstalled in the ATM 4 to deposit or to draw money from the bank, thecard 1, 3 automatically sends to the ATM 4 the card ID thereof and theissuance number of the invalid bill recorded therein (step 71). Onreceiving these items of information, the ATM 4 transmits theinformation to the computer 5 of the bank (step 72). The computer 5 thenregisters the information items to a storage area of invalid bills in anexternal storage of the computer 5 (step 73). When the possessor of thecard indicates a deposit of money equal to or more than the coin balanceto the ATM 4, the card 1, 3 transmits to the ATM 4 the issuance numbersof bills necessary for the deposit (step 74). The ATM 4 then transmitsthe numbers to the computer 5 of the bank (step 75). The computer 5records the card ID, the bill issuance numbers, and the like in an areaof transaction history of the external storage of the computer 5 (step76). In the processing above, the card IDs of the cards 1 and 3 and theissuance numbers of the invalid and valid bills are recorded on the sideof the bank. However, the transaction history recorded in the data areasof the card 1 and 3 is not passed to the bank side in any situation.

[0028]FIG. 4 shows in a flowchart a flow of processing to trace moneyundergone the money laundering. In accordance with an objective issuancenumber of bill, the computer of the bank retrieves transaction historyand an invalid bill in the external storage (step 81). When a billhaving the issuance number is detected (yes in step 82), the transactioncard ID is displayed on the display unit (step 83). Using as a clue thepossessor of the card ID, the police can check transaction history inthe data area of each money card to thereby find out a suspect of themoney laundering in accordance with the final card ID thus retrieved.

[0029] In this connection, when the money transporter 2 is replaced withan ATM and the electronic money card of the recipient is substituted fora computer of the bank, the depositing operation of the ATM can also becarried out in the same processing procedure as for the paying operationshown in FIGS. 2A to 2C.

[0030] While the present invention has been described with reference tothe particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted bythose embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to beappreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify theembodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

1. An electronic money system of a token and value mixed type,comprising: an electronic money card of a type in which a token type anda value type are mixed, said card including storage means for storingtherein issuance numbers of an electronic money having a fixed facevalue and a balance of coin money in terms of a value amount and meansfor preferentially paying the coin money and paying the bill money whena coin money balance is insufficient for payment, issuance numbers ofbills paid/received being recorded in transaction history in a memoryarea of said electronic money card; an automatic transaction machine(ATM) for reading from an electronic money card an issuance number of aninvalid bill and issuance numbers of a bill money in a depositingoperation and transmitting the numbers to a computer of a bank, theissuance number of the invalid bill being an issuance number of a billmoney which was changed into coins and hence became invalid; and acomputer of a bank for accumulating therein information transmitted fromsaid ATM.
 2. An electronic money system of a token and value mixed typein accordance with claim 1, further including an electronic moneytransporter for reading from an electronic money card of a payerissuance numbers of bills and/or a value amount of the coin money andoutputting the numbers and/or the value amount to an electronic moneycard of a recipient.
 3. An electronic money card of a token and valuemixed type, comprising: storage means for storing therein issuancenumbers of an electronic money having a fixed face value and a balanceof coin money in terms of a value amount; and processing means forpreferentially paying, when the card is used as an electronic money cardof a payer, the coin money if a coin money balance is sufficient for atransaction amount and paying a bill money when the coin money balanceis insufficient for payment, said processing means changing, for atransaction balance to which neither the coin money balance nor the billmoney is applied, the bill money to a value amount of a coin money toachieve the payment.
 4. An electronic money card of a token and valuemixed type in accordance with claim 3, wherein said processing meansincludes means for conducting, when the coin money balance is equal toor more than the transaction amount, the paying operation by subtractingthe transaction amount from the coin money balance; conducting, when thecoin money balance is less than the transaction amount and is equal toor more than a face value of the bill, the paying operation by deletingissuance numbers of bills whose value amounts to maximum within thetransaction amount and setting a remaining amount as a transactionbalance; conducting, when the coin money balance is equal to or morethan the transaction amount, the paying operation of the transactionbalance by subtracting the transaction balance from the coin moneybalance; and conducting, when the coin money balance is less than thetransaction amount or the transaction balance, the paying operation ofthe transaction amount of the transaction balance by changing a billmoney into a value amount of coin money and deleing an issuance numberof the bill money.
 5. An electronic money card of a token and valuemixed type in accordance with claim 4, said processing means furtherincluding means for registering as an invalid bill the issuance numberof the bill money changed into the coin money to said storage means. 6.An electronic money card of a token and value mixed type in accordancewith claim 3, said processing means further including means for storing,when the card is utilized as an electronic money card of a recipient,the issuance numbers of received bill money in said storage means andadding the coin money received to the coin money balance.
 7. Anelectronic money transporter handling an electronic money card of a typein which a token type and a value type are mixed, comprising: means forreading issuance numbers of bill money and/or a value amount of a coinmoney from an electronic money card of a payer, said money cardincluding storage means for storing therein issuance numbers of anelectronic money having a fixed face value and a balance of coin moneyin terms of a value amount and processing means for preferentiallypaying the coin money if the coin money is sufficient for a transactionamount and paying a bill money when the coin money balance isinsufficient for payment, said processing means changing, for atransaction balance to which neither the coin money balance nor the billmoney is applied, the bill money to a value amount of the coin money toachieve the payment; and means for outputting the issuance numbers ofthe bill money read and/or the value amount read to an electronic moneycard of a recipient.
 8. An automatic transaction machine (ATM) handlingan electronic money card of a type in which a token type and a valuetype are mixed, comprising: means for receiving from an electronic moneycard a card ID thereof, issuance numbers of deposited bill money, and anissuance number of an invalid bill, the issuance number of the invalidbill being an issuance number of a bill which was changed into coinmoney and hence became invalid, the electronic card including storagemeans for storing therein issuance numbers of electronic money having afixed face value, a balance of coin money in terms of a value amount,and an issuance number of a bill converted into a value amount of coinmoney, and means for notifying issuance numbers of bill money indicatedfor a deposit operation and the issuance number of the invalid bill tothe ATM and deleting the issuance numbers of the bill money indicatedfor a deposit and the issuance number of the invalid bill from thestorage means; and means for transmitting said card ID received and theissuance numbers of the bill money deposited and the issuance number ofthe invalid bill to a computer of a financial facility.
 9. An automatictransaction machine (ATM) handling an electronic money card of a type inwhich a token type and a value type are mixed, comprising: means forreceiving from an electronic money card a card ID thereof, issuancenumbers of deposited bill money, and an issuance number of an invalidbill, the issuance number of the invalid bill being an issuance numberof a bill which was changed into coin money and hence became invalid,the electronic card including storage means for storing therein issuancenumbers of electronic money having a fixed face value, a balance of coinmoney in terms of a value amount, and an issuance number of a billconverted into a value amount of coin money, and means for notifyingissuance numbers of bill money indicated for a deposit operation and theissuance number of the invalid bill to the ATM and deleting the issuancenumbers of the bill money indicated for a deposit and the issuancenumber of the invalid bill from the storage means; and means for storingtherein said card ID and the issuance numbers of the bill moneydeposited and the issuance number of the invalid bill with acorrespondence established therebetween.